Fuqua Lab
Principal Investigator: William C Fuqua
Institution: Indiana University (Bloomington, IN)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY The transition of bacteria from a free-living state to a sessile, surface-attached growth mode often leads to formation of multicellular biofilms, profoundly altering cellular physiology and increasing antimicrobial tolerance. Attachment and biofilm formation is regulated in many systems by the pivotal cytoplasmic second messenger cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c-di-GMP), with high levels commonly promoting adherence and low levels favoring planktonic growth. Recent work has identified a remarkable regulatory circuit that controls intracellular c-di-GMP levels through the activity of excreted metabolites called pterins. Diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) synthesize c-di-GMP from GTP, and phosphodiesterases (PDEs) degrade the signal, with certain enzymes that have both activities, the balance of which is often under environmental control. In Agrobacterium tumefaciens, a plant pathogenic Proteobacteria, the DcpA protein is a dual function DGC-PDE, that requires excreted pterins to maintain a PDE-dominant activity in planktonic culture. Most forms of life synthesize pterins from a branch of the folate biosynthesis pathway and in bacteria their excretion is recognized but p…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01GM160733-02: Mechanisms of pterin-dependent regulation in proteobacterial systems (2026)
- 1R01GM160733-01: Mechanisms of pterin-dependent regulation in proteobacterial systems (2025)
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